Shelby, no, it isn’t signed. And I scratched my head over the maker after I bought it.
I looked through my library, and Kindigs seemed to offer the most examples; 5 by Jacob Sell the younger, and 12 by Fredrick Sell.
So first off, if you just look at the stock and furniture, and not the carving, the gun fits Fredricks work to a tee. Similarities are the shape of the buttstock with a sharper drop at the nose of the comb than Jacob used. The shape of the facings on the lock and side plate side match that of several Fredrick rifles (minus the teardrops), as does the side plate itself, including the third screw as he sometimes used. The facings used by Jacob, at least of Kindigs, all terminate in a sharp point to the rear, and he used a different side plate shape all together.
The trigger Guard on mine matches the one pictured on page 407, in detail, pretty much exactly. The trigger on my gun matches those by Fredrick. I see one similar trigger by Jacob, but minus the curl at the tip of the trigger. The cameo cut around the nose of the comb and out onto both sides of the stock is identical to those used by Fredrick, and though similar, different than those used by Jacob.
Another notable difference, and pointed out by Kindig is the cheek rest. He mentions on pg 400, that Jacob placed his cheek piece very low on the stock, and close to the lower edge of the stock. The cheek piece on my gun is in a more central position as Fredrick used.
As for the carving, the carving on mine closely matches that of Kindigs # 190 as far as the two C scrolls ahead of the cheek piece, the carving under the cheek piece, the moldings on the edge of the cheek piece itself, and the cameo cut from the nose of the comb down to the front end of the cheek piece.
However, the main body of the carving behind the cheek piece certainly resembles that of Jacobs work on # 179.
Noting all the above, and feeling that most of the work on the gun resembles Fredricks work moreso than Jacobs, I think the gun was made by Fredrick.
How Jacobs carvings style ended up behind the cheek piece on this gun, I can’t say.
According to Kindig, they were likely brothers, living at the same time, in the same area, so maybe who knows.
Any other ideas are certainly welcome, as the gun was no doubt made by one, or maybe both of them.
I've had a couple guys reply to me with full stock rifles, but am still looking for pictures of the nose cap on a Sell halfstock.
John
Here's the other side. The lock is a replacement. Note the cameo cut around the nose of the comb, and compare to Kindig Fredrick Sell #192.
